


Cookies to Mend Their Hearts

by queeniesye



Series: Summer Bake... or Beyond? [3]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Lots of heart to heart, One Shot Collection, Romance, Slice of Life, Spin Off, Tender - Freeform, Tenderness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:40:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27089530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queeniesye/pseuds/queeniesye
Summary: Tifa Lockhart has to find a way to comfort Cloud strife as a remnant from her past is troubling him.
Relationships: A little bit of Aerith Gainsborough/Zack Fair, A little bit of Reno/Rude, Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife
Series: Summer Bake... or Beyond? [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935109
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	Cookies to Mend Their Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set about three months after these dorks started dating, so I'm writing about winter way too early! I hope this story softens your hearts as it did mine when I was writing this. I always envision this is how the dynamic between them would be like post-OG once they found a way to communicate better with one another.

Chilly gusts of wind blew across the suburban area of Sector 4, at Midgar’s new city, overpowering the morning sunlight’s mellow heat. Trees stood dry and leafless on sidewalks along a maze of wet grey roads, inviting flocks of crows to caw mightily as they perched on branches. On the streets, walking pedestrians clad in multilayers of clothes began putting on their gloves and pulling up their mufflers to cover their noses. Small community buildings opened their doors to welcome and protect those less fortunate from the cold. At a grey two-storeyed vinyl siding house, the casement windows of a medium-sized room were left open. Books that used to fill in rows of bookshelves inside the room were placed haphazardly instead on the work desk and its surrounding floor areas.

White noise was blaring in the room, produced from a running vacuum cleaner used by Tifa on the shelves until they were free of dust. With a worn out rag that had been soaked in a cleaning agent, she continued polishing the shelves to a point when she was finally fairly satisfied to stack the books back in. It was her annual winter cleaning, where she had to declutter the office at her home prior to the winter solstice and the start of a new year. For her, it was the ideal time to reflect on recent accomplishments and failures, retraced forgotten or abandoned ideas and any other tasks necessary to improve on her business decisions.

Denzel who had been hovering over the shredding machine came to her and handed a heap of papers he was holding in his hands. “Should I throw these away?” They were all unfinished sketches of cakes and pastries that were tucked away in a file and overlooked. 

Sketches that recalled her interest were set apart from the rest as she said, “I’ll take these.” To other sketches that she decided not to pursue, she told him, “But you can throw these away.”

The shredder machine buzzed again as Denzel went to resume his task across Tifa who busied herself with sorting books and files back into the bookshelves. Some books were repositioned a couple more times until she was certain that no other changes were necessary, before moving to organize the work desk. She pulled the first drawer out and found a range of stationary and a file containing documents that she had signed. In the second drawer, there was a notebook that she would use to jot down general information when she is in the office. The empty state of the drawer compelled her to stretch her hand in to find for items that might be hidden from view. She lightly drummed the spaces that her hand could reach, only to find most of them empty… except for something cold that was grazing against her skin.

A peek into the drawer was all it took for her to find a small square box made of chrome and that was rose gold in colour. The discovery was startling, even though she knew what it was and why it was there. She spent a few minutes debating with herself on whether it would be good for her to examine the content of the box. Swayed by an irrational fear, she pictured the release of ominous mists into the open air if the box is unfastened.

 _I didn’t go this far to back down_ , she nudged herself.

It was the push she needed to retrieve the box out of the drawer. Her reflection on the chrome box sitting on her palm stared back at her as she gulped. Uncovering the box revealed a white gold ring, secured in a cut made on a small satin white cushion. A green emerald diamond stood out at the heart of the ring, surrounded by smaller white diamonds. The sight of it was nowhere distressing to her as she thought it would be. Rather, it made her smile, amused by the memories that it carried.

They were at the pinnacle of their relationship when _he_ proposed to her. Three months after, he walked out without reclaiming the ring, leaving her with the pain of having to relive his hollow promises through it. Unable to find the courage in her to throw it away, she hid it instead, far away from places where she could easily see. Tifa supposed… keeping the ring was, in a way, an effort to preserve his presence in her life, an act that was both comforting and tormenting to her. Though… when she realized that she was better off without him, the ring was all but forgotten.

“Guess I’ll just sell it off,” she said, placing the box of ring onto the work desk.

Dusts that had settled on hard surfaces in the office swirled around as wind from outside blew them into the air. New photographs of both Denzel and Tifa with their circles of friends filled in one section of the walls. A chocobo magnet made of porcelain, a gift from Cloud was the new addition to a bunch of others already stuck on the whiteboard. Denzel was watering plants in pots at the window sill, the coffee table and end tables. The vacuum cleaner was turned on again by Tifa, who ran it along the mahogany floor. Her winter cleaning resumed, until the city was under the evening sky once again.

***

“I was trying so hard to gain my footing but the shoes just won’t let me! I slipped right through the door, twirled and stepped onto the shoes of the math _teach_!” 

Twinkling stars scattered across the night sky, like silver glitters sprinkled across a paper. Loud snapping noises could be heard as barks from excessively dry trees broke. From the record player, the euphonious voice of a singer named Scarlet echoed as she sang jazzy songs to celebrate the winter solstice. On a cushioned lounger at her home backyard, Tifa was lying down, all wrapped up in a knitted blanket and holding a glass of red wine. Billows of cold air were expelled out of the gap of her mouth as she laughed, alongside Cloud who was sitting beside her on another lounger. He was telling her about an embarrassing episode of his life as a young adolescent.

“It’s like straight out of a cartoon show!” Tifa remarked in between breathless chortles.

Cloud was shaking his head as he giggled, “It was embarrassing!” With wide eyes, he looked at her and asked, “And you know what the _teach_ said?!”

“What?”

“ _You need new shoes_! He told me to get new shoes! In the most demanding manner!” he exclaimed, sending them into fits of guffaws, loud enough to prod the neighbours to peep at them from their windows, with a scowl on their faces. “I guess… I can say that I was lucky that I didn’t get into trouble for that.”

Finally calmed down, Tifa began wiping the tears at the corner of her eyes with a tissue. “Well… he can’t really blame you for something that’s out of your control.”

The air had grown frosty, driving Tifa to pull her blanket tighter to her body and Cloud inching closer to the burning fireplace in front of them. An instrumental version of one of Scarlet’s songs was playing and Tifa hummed along. A moment of silence passed as they marvelled over the stars, much to the relief of the neighbours.

“What have you been up to lately?” Cloud queried, following a sip out of his glass.

Her lips curved into a smile. “Denzel has been helping me… with cleaning my office.” When he raised his eyebrows with interest, she elaborated, “It’s a habit of mine. I have to do it before the start of the New Year.”

Cloud took another mouthful of his red wine. “You know… I’ve never seen your office,” he said with caution, while throwing playful glances at her that made her chuckle.

“Fine…” she said, rising from her seat and offering her hand. “Come… and I’ll show you.”

She took Cloud to her office, which was situated next to the kitchen, and watched as he sauntered in. While he scanned through the room, she could see the way his eyes glinted with admiration, like an explorer who found a whole new unfamiliar part of the world. When he stood facing the collection of photographs hanging on one section of the office walls, there was a simper on his face that reminded her of a friendly quokka. 

“You put up photos of us,” he said coyly. 

Standing beside him, she touched his arm gently and told him, “Of course I would…” _You’re part of our lives – my life, now,_ she wanted to tell him but her reserved nature refused to. “Your chocobo keychain’s on the board too,” she said instead, to which he chuckled.

An item displayed on the work desk captured his curiosity. “Is that a… horse figurine?” He took it into his hand and began perusing the details of the art piece.

“Yes…” she answered, leaning against a filing cabinet. “It’s made of wood. My dad carved it for me. He’s good in doing that.”

She observed as her words sent him lost into a trail of thoughts. When he seemed to have found what he was looking for, he stated, “Lockhart… Your dad’s Brian Lockhart.” When she nodded, he continued, “I think my mom commissioned wood pieces of owls from him.”

“Yes. The townsfolk loved his wood work,” she tittered. Defiant against the paradox of time, she hauled herself back to the past inside her head, and returned to the period when she used to watch her dad sitting at his workbench, with a monocle held against one eye as he carved pieces of wood with chisels and gouges in silence. When she served him tea or biscuits, she would sit on a stool close to him just so she could strike a conversation or to ask about what he was doing.

She was no longer struggling with the memory. The agony that she used to feel about it was replaced instead with a smile, etched on the lining of her lips. A tender gaze lingered from the look that she gave Cloud, holding a hope that he would feel her gratitude. The smile he returned to her told her enough that he understood; it burned inside her an impatience to open more doors for him to deeply engrave his existence in her life.

He placed the horse figurine back to its place, only to be distracted from moving away from the desk by something that Tifa was unsure of… until he held it in his hand and lifted it up. He stood frozen, with both of his eyes staring at the emerald diamond ring as it sparkled underneath the bright lights.

“…He gave that to me.”

“Vincent did?”

“Yes. I was thinking of selling it,” she replied, reassuring him with the last sentence.

The temperature in the room dropped, following the automatic lowering of heat coming from the radiator. Trees outside shook as squalls blew across the city, bringing the evening rain with them and the eerie sound of nature whistling. Cloud did not say anything when he put the box of ring back onto the desk but she knew it was bothering him.

***

On the rooftop of Evergreen Apartments, dark grey smokes rose from a barbeque grill near a group of youngsters gathered in one spot to sing along the musical rhymes of an acoustic guitar. Colourful strobe lights were flashing from the windows of an apartment room, and a crowd of figures could be seen dancing wildly to the sound of loud techno music that was muted from outside by soundproofed walls. On a balcony of another apartment room, a man was leaning against the glass railings, puffing clouds of cigarette smoke during an argument over the phone. At apartment 1510, Denzel was seated on a black beanbag, watching an action film that was playing on the LED television across him.

In the kitchen, Tifa was placing a bowl of hardened dough made of butter, sugar and cinnamon that she had refrigerated for an hour onto a waterfall countertop. “Ok… let’s roll a part of this into a disc that’s about… one and a half inch thick,” she instructed, to which Cloud nodded in comprehension. She observed as he took a rolling pin and did as she told him to.

“I’ll cut the first batch with these heart-shaped cookie cutters,” she said, to which he nodded again. There was an unusual lack of enthusiasm demonstrated by his behaviour, making her more certain than ever that it had something to do with what occurred some few days ago.

But a confrontation with him was not what any of them needed yet, she decided. 

The process of gathering leftover doughs and rolling them into discs continued until both of them were pleased with the number of doughs shaped into teddy bears, hearts and pine trees that were lining up the baking sheet on another tray. They did an equal amount of another set of shaped doughs, cutting a smaller hole in the middle of each, before putting both sets into the refrigerator to chill.

“The chilling will take about thirty minutes,” she informed him as she spun the timer.

Cloud moved to open a mini fridge located underneath the waterfall countertop. “Would you like some beer, then?”

“Yes, please!” She beamed. Her thoughts soon shifted to Denzel, who she called by name without receiving any responses. When she came over to check on him, she found him soundly asleep. Noticing the cotton blanket that was on a three-seater couch nearby the beanbag, she took it and draped it around Denzel, then searched for the remote controller to switch off the television. “He’s asleep. It’s his usual nap time, after all,” she said, when she returned to the kitchen.

Cloud handed her one of the Modeoheim beers in his hands. “I hope the noises here won’t wake him up.”

“No, they probably won’t… He’s a heavy sleeper,” she countered, pulling the tab on her beer as she lovingly peered at her sleeping son.

A piano piece began playing from the stereos when Cloud turned the radio on. As he sat on a chair across her, a smile brightened the features of his face, gesturing for her to listen to the music – an invitation to cross into one of the islands he built and opened only to those he willed. When he closed his eyes, he started crooning, diffusing warmth across her chest and _into_ her soul, who was meeting his somewhere in a parallel world. 

“This is Eleanor’s…” she said, citing a famous pianist during her childhood years when the piano piece was becoming more familiar to her ears.

He bobbed his head and took a chug out of his can. “It’s my mother’s favourite piece.” A melancholic smile spread across his lips as he added, “My parents danced to this during their first date… and their wedding.”

That was when she edged near to him and pulled his head to rest onto her stomach, while gently caressing the back of his head with her hand. “Thanks for telling me, Cloud.”

“Mmmhmm,” his answer was a hum that ended with a sigh, as though he was relieved about releasing some of the pent up feelings gurgling inside him. 

_We have to address the ring issue a.s.a.p one way or another_ , she thought.

The timer rang, urging Tifa to retrieve the chilled shaped doughs out of the refrigerator and shoved them into the pre-heated oven to let them bake. Once they were all turned into cookies, she left Cloud with the task of spreading teaspoons of fillings on them – strawberry, peach and blueberry jams, and chocolate, hazelnut and peanut spreads.

“Last but not least… the sugar!” she asserted as she sifted powdered sugar on the holed cookies, prior to pressing them against the ones already with fillings. 

By the time they were finished, the time shown by her wristwatch was seven in the evening. While Cloud sorted the cookies into two medium-sized boxes, Tifa had to wake Denzel up.

Roused from his sweet sleep, Denzel shot a question laced with exasperation that sent her chuckling, “Why are you waking me up?”

“We have to go now. Aerith and Zack’s party is starting in 30 minutes!”

***

At a suburban area of Sector 5, Midgar’s new city, Zack and Aerith’s new home towered with its geometric architecture and large windows. A large fountain in the semblance of Minerva, an important spiritual entity to the Planet, occupied the heart of the front yard and surrounded by artistically pruned blue butterfly bushes. Other plants, trees and sculptures filled the landscape, characteristic of a pairing between a professional florist and landscapist, and a geologist. Inside the house, a pine tree bound with fairy lights and trinkets lit up in the living room; a dated album of the singer Scarlet was booming from the stereos and a merry group was gathered around a long table fully occupied with dishes fit for special occasions and desserts at the dining room.

“I have an announcement to make!” Reno yelled, turning all eyes to him. He exchanged glances with Rude, his lover who was sitting by his side, and raised a hand together with him to show a pair of sterling silver rings around their middle fingers. “We’re engaged!”

Loud shrieks of congratulations filled the air, to which Reno and Rude counteracted with expression of bashful appreciation.

“I… would also like to make an announcement,” Aerith said, interrupting the noise around them with an abnormal nervousness for someone who is as lively as she often is. When the group was silent again, she tapped her belly twice and cracked a smile, “A mini Gainsborough _dash_ Fair is growing inside this bun.”

Another round of loud squealing echoed throughout the room; there were those, including Tifa who started tearing up as they congratulated the couple, while others teased them relentlessly. Tseng stepped up to calm them all, “I say that we have a toast… to Reno and Rude for their engagement, to Aerith and Zack for their pregnancy… and a happy winter solstice and new year to all of us.”

Glasses clinked, followed by the passing of dishes around the table to allow those that were present to get a scoop or two portions for their individual plates. As they indulged in countless different conversations, snow began to fall outside, turning the outdoor scenery into a sweeping whiteness. Praises were given to both Cloud and Tifa as the group started munching on the buttery cookies that they made together. When the group has had enough of dinner, they relocated to the living room, where several board games were salvaged out of the cabinets and strewn across the floor. Tifa chose to participate in several sessions of a game on buying and trading properties for an hour with Denzel and the others.

When she realized that Cloud was nowhere to be found, she excused herself and went to look for him. He was by the back porch, staring into the distance and drinking a can of Modeoheim beer, like he always does. She gave him a back hug and asked, “What are you doing out here alone in the cold?”

There was a look of surprise on his face that melted into one of content when he heard her voice. “I just love watching the snow fall.”

“You do, huh…” She buried her face onto his back and caught the whiff of a citrusy scent from his outfit – an odour she had grown accustomed to and loved. “Hey Cloud, are you bothered by the ring?”

He was quiet for some time, but eventually gave his answer, “Not really…” From the tone of his voice, she knew that he was lying, and her guess proved to be true when he corrected himself not long after, “Actually… maybe I am.”

“You know that it means nothing to me now.”

She heard him exhale. “I know… it’s not you. It’s me.” 

She released him and pulled him to face her. Using a hand to cup his face, she drew him closer to her until their lips rested against one another with a placating kindness that was meant to comfort him. When it ended, she put her head against his chest and muttered, “I don’t need a ring, a flower, or anything. Having you around is enough.”

“Thank you, Tifa,” she felt his lips moved as he planted a kiss on her head. “But I’ll… still get you something better… someday.”

It made her giggle. “If it pleases you!”

“It has to please you too,” he said, stroking his thumb to one of her cheeks.

She twinkled. “I know it will.” Wrapping an arm around his waist, she beckoned him to come back inside, to which he obliged.

The bustling new city of Midgar was animated with the lines of brightly lit tall pine trees, crowds of people doing last minute shopping and endless songs about the winter solstice playing from department stores. Snow continued to fall, leaving hard surfaces as white as the lilies that grew in abundance during spring on the fields of the Great Glacier. Enchanted people ran around, picking up balls of snow to throw at one another. Others lie down on the ground, making angels as the snow showered on their faces. Cloud and Tifa were back with their friends and family, spending the rest of the night in each other’s companies.

**Author's Note:**

> The story Cloud was telling Tifa at her backyard is an actual thing that happened to me lmao. Everything is described word for word. It's a cautionary tale: shoes that have lost so much friction may cause a lot chaos... and hurt!


End file.
